Dear Neighbor,
I invite you to attend a community meeting on biking in the 49th Ward. Neighborhood residents and I have been working with the City of Chicago’s Department of Transportation (CDOT) on the addition of a new bike route to the ward.
The meeting will be held on Thursday, January 14, 7:00 p.m., at the Field School auditorium, 7019 N. Ashland (between Lunt and Greenleaf). Enter through the Lunt entrance on the south side of the building.
CDOT will present a proposed north-south bike route that will give cyclists a clear route through the 49th Ward connecting Evanston and Edgewater. Though the proposed plan is focused on cyclists, the improvements along this corridor will make it safer for people on foot by slowing down speeding cars and improving sight lines. This route would be in addition to the bike improvements approved though my Participatory Budgeting process that will result in shared bike lanes on Clark Street and Pratt Boulevard. This project will leverage funds voted on for bike infrastructure through Participatory Budgeting to secure additional federal funds.
You may recall that I held a meeting in April, 2014, about this initial proposal. At that meeting, residents who had been involved in the Participatory Budgeting process, along with neighbors new to the project, volunteered to serve on a bike route advisory committee. Since then, the committee has gathered more information and provided feedback on multiple drafts of the route plan. Based on their insights, CDOT came up with a draft plan, which the committee endorsed. Now I would like to hear from you.
Below is a map that highlights the proposed route highlighted in dotted green and yellow:
Map Courtesy of the Chicago Department of Transportation
The proposed northbound route would take bicyclists on the following path through the ward:
- North on Glenwood from Devon to Pratt
- North on Glenwood one additional block using a contra-flow lane to Farwell
- West on Farwell to Greenview using a contra-flow lane
- North on Greenview to Jonquil
- West on Jonquil to Paulina
- North on Paulina to Juneway
- West on Juneway to Triangle Park using a contra-flow lane
- West across Triangle Park and on to Juneway to reach Chicago Avenue in Evanston
The proposed southbound route would follow the reverse route, requiring a contra-flow lane on the block of Greenview between Morse and Farwell.
Some of the suggested improvements along the route include a Bike Box (first photo below) at Glenwood and Devon to provide cyclists with a head-start in crossing the intersection, curb extensions (second photo below) at various intersections to give pedestrians a shorter distance to cross streets, raised intersections that act as modest speed humps, and improvements to viaduct lighting at the CTA viaducts at Pratt and Glenwood and Greenview and Sherwin.
I urge you to attend the meeting to provide your input on the bike route proposal. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please feel free to share your comments with me by replying to this email.
Sincerely,
Joe Moore
http://www.facebook.com/joemoore49
http://www.twitter.com/joemoore49
Image Courtesy of the Chicago Department of Transportation
Image Courtesy of the Chicago Department of Transportation